Dwight Howard is buying into this 100%

I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I've seen some catastrophic moments from the team as well. Lack of intensity, poor free throw shooting, extreme amounts of turnovers, etc. None of these three wins have felt like a sure thing.

Hopefully the team stays humble and hungry.

 

I think he does too. I think he knows defense and rebounding are his main values to the team, though I do think he warrants more touches off the pick and roll which is something I think we've been underusing him in.

When we relegate him to just running up and down the court watching us jack up 3's and ISO, then he has every right to be frustrated. He needs to be involved.

But hey 3-0 is 3-0. Can't complain.

 

His teammates ain't buying into him. I knew in the first game that I was going to have the urge to make a 'give Dwight the ****ing ball' thread.

 

not worried about his lack of touches. Those come over time.

 

If those are our weaknesses, then i'm perfectly fine with that lol. We are in a damn good situation.

 

We still need to improve a ton, which we should with the more games we have and more practice we have. There are still some glaring errors but despite all that, we are winning and seem to be learning pretty well on what to do. Lot to be optimistic about, but we also need to not get too caught up in it since we are still trying to figure everything out with the offense.

 

Did you watch the Utah game? Dwight looked like he was checking out. Shaq's feed the dog theory is true. We need to get Dwight some early touches/dunks to keep him engaged.

 

Might be buying into it, but doesn't look CLOSE to 2009 Howard. Looks just like 2011-2012 Howard. Pretty good player.

 

I need to see him dunk on some people in traffic.

THROW IT DOWN BIGMANN

 

We clearly have more weaknesses than that. I like our team, don't get me wrong. But I hope they don't think they can cruise through the season like we saw in the first half of the Jazz game.

It's awesome to have this many weapons, though. And the media has clearly soured everyone on Howard. All of his actions since arriving here suggest that he has bought in to the team, I agree. Let's go Rockets.

 

The Utah announcers had some pointed criticisms - he likes to just jump for rebounds without boxing out and having to work for the boards, he doesn't like to come out to defend away from the paint, he doesn't have a polished offensive game. All of which were in full display. But they also don't give him credit for what he did do - alter shots, blocks, pick-n-rolls with Harden (and Lin to a lesser extent) were deadly. Let's get real, he makes the perimeter defenders look a lot better since they know they can afford to a blow by and as long as they continue to chase from behind they will have Howard waiting to cut off any further penetration.

 

Seemed like he was using some Dream spins in the Utah game.

 

The same Jazz announcers who wanted the Jazz to "hack-a-Howard" with less than 2 minutes left which is against the rules? Those guys made more idiotic comments than I can count. I have absolutely no respect for anything they say.

 

I agree that he's buying in. Doesn't meant it'll be a seamless transition yet. Let's give him a month or two before we start worrying about how he gels with everyone. He's playing pretty dang well considering its only the third game...much better than I ever saw last season.

 

The man still wants to post up tho... The problem is, his post moves are still too raw, and the team sees this... I can't imagine Dwight to continue to pnr the entire season

 

I'm not ready to say he looks like 2009 Dwight Howard. Maybe its just a matter of him rounding into mid-season form.

Right now, if I had to project where his numbers end up, I would think its something like 16 ppg and 13.5 rpg (just my subjective impression).

I mean, I'll take that, but its not the dominant force that I hoped he could be. Still a long way to go, of course.

 

To be fair, the whole team was checked out in the first half, save Parsons. Travel, rest, injuries, and altitude all had to contribute. That Howard and most of the team showed up in the second half to get a decisive win under those conditions tells me a bunch about this team already.

 

I think it looks like he's going to put up another stat line similar to his year on the Lakers, which is more than okay with me. If he can put up around 16-17 points, 12-13 rebounds, with elite rim protection, that justifies his contract in my opinion.

But then again I was never expecting a complete return to Orlando Dwight where he was putting up 23-18 type numbers. I guess it's all about what you were expecting with him.

 

His teammates haven't been able to pass him the ball in a good position. If he isn't posted up deep enough he will need to pass out and have him repost. He also needs to recognize that when the opposing team D collapses on him he needs to kick it out.

Back to his teammates passing the ball, there are plenty of times where its obvious he's open but they fail to recognize it quick enough. Also when he receives the ball he needs to immediately make a move and not wait. As the team learns how to play together I believe that this will smooth out.